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Getting to Know Brian Dumoulin

by
Michelle Crechiolo
/ Pittsburgh Penguins

We sat down with new Penguins prospect Brian Dumoulin on Wednesday and spoke with him on a whole bunch of topics. I couldn’t fit everything we talked about into my feature on the young defenseman, so I figured I’d make a separate “Getting to Know You” type of piece to include all his other answers -- including some non-hockey-related ones.

QUICK HITTERS…

Favorite NHL team growing up: Boston BruinsFavorite NHL player: Was Joe Sakic; now Erik KarlssonPump-up music or artist: Sammy Adams“He’s from New England.”Favorite video game: NHL 12Favorite TV show: EntourageFavorite off-ice activities: Playing cards, hanging with the boys, cooking“The best thing I can make is mushrooms and asparagus with a little teriyaki sauce. It’s a household favorite. My parents always cooked for me, so I kind of learned from them. It’s just something I have a passion for and continue to do.”Follow-up: “So do you watch the Food Network?”“Me and my roommate Parker Milner, even this summer, we watch it daily. My favorite show on there is Iron Chef.”Favorite food: SeafoodFavorite restaurant: Huot's Seafood in Camp Ellis, MaineFavorite non-hockey playing athlete: Cristiano RonaldoFavorite sport besides hockey: We play basketball a lot, and I like watching European soccer.What does your Twitter handle (@Du24theboyz) mean?“Du2 for the boys. Because my number is 2, some guys call me Du2. Then for the boys. They call me Dumo, Du2, whatever they come up with.”

MORE IN-DEPTH Q&A…

Q. Where were you when you found out you were part of the trade to Pittsburgh and what was your reaction?A. I was actually just hanging out with some friends; I wasn’t watching the draft at all. My first reaction was that I looked to see if the trade had actually happened, and it hadn’t, so I kind of checked my phone again to see if some of my friends were messing with me or something. But it was about 10 minutes before the trade was actually announced, so once it was announced I was more relaxed and knew it was happening and knew I was going to a good organization.

Q. Who called to break the news?A. Ron Francis called me from Carolina about 10-15 minutes before. Then after that, my agent, Gary Prolman, called me. Then I called my parents and stuff, and a lot of the Pittsburgh management called me after that.

Q. Speaking of Pittsburgh management, assistant to the GM Tom Fitzgerald said you two had a good talk over lunch after the draft. What’s it been like getting to know him?A. It’s awesome because my (Boston College) teammate Kevin Hayes is cousins with Mr. Fitzgerald. I know his kids are going to Boston College as well. So we were kind of asking each other questions. I was asking about Pittsburgh and he was asking me about the culture at Boston College. So it was a good conversation and flowed very well.

Q. You actually roomed with two Eagles teammates who were from the Pittsburgh area, right?A. Yeah, I roomed with Patrick Wey, who was drafted by Washington, and Parker Milner, who’s going to be a senior goalie next year.

Q. Now that you’ve been in the city for a few days, what do you think of Pittsburgh and the Penguins’ facilities here at CONSOL Energy Center?A. The bowling alley (on Tuesday) was pretty fun. It was in Mt. Lebanon, which is where my roommate’s actually from so I was texting him and sharing some thoughts. The facilities are incredible, the locker room – it’s awesome that they’re letting us use it and letting us use the ice, I couldn’t be more grateful. I just feel like I’m in an NHL environment.

Q. How’d you initially get involved in the sport and what was it like growing up playing in Maine?A. No one in my family had ever played hockey before me. I remember my mom saying when I was 3 years old that I had a lot of energy, me and my brother. It was the only thing that was an actual team sport where the coaches were very involved, stuff like that. She just threw me into hockey and let me take all my energy out on the ice. It seems like everyone starts as a forward because they want to score goals, but then I realized I couldn’t score goals (laughs). So they moved me back to D.

Q. What was the recruiting process like with BC and why’d you decide to go there?A. I kind of always had an inkling I wanted to go to BC just because of education, the hockey program, the tradition, coach Jerry York and some of the other players that were going there also. They just brought me in and they were one of the last teams to offer me a scholarship. Obviously, I had to sit down and think about it because that’s a big decision. I spent three years of my life there. It was a big decision for me and my family, but I’m very happy with my selection and very proud to represent Boston College.

Q. You had quite the career at Boston College – two-time national champion, two-time All-American, two-time Hockey East Best Defensive Defenseman, Hobey Baker finalist. How much did you develop as a player during your three seasons there?A. A ton, and that’s one thing good about coach Jerry York’s system is that it’s like professional hockey. You’re very accountable but he’s not always on us, you kind of have your own freedom. The style we play is similar to Pittsburgh, so that can only help the transition to the NHL level.

Q. Representing the U.S. at the 2011 World Juniors and coming away with a medal – what was that whole experience like?A. That was awesome, especially because you can tell as you play different countries, that they play different styles. Just grasping that and seeing that, not just focusing on college hockey or American players and getting a feel for other players in the world and how to play against them, like a small, quick forward or a big, rugged power forward, can only help me. It was awesome to win a medal with Team USA.